This morning, when I awoke from my sleep, I had decided to get to the bottom of these nightmares that have been going on since I was a child. Always being chased, cornered and scared out of my wits. I read about lucid dreaming, yet I don't understand how it is possible, at least for me. I am so stuck thinking that the dreams are real that is is affecting not only my sleep, but my relationship, my motivation to work, and every other aspect of life. I am at the point where I feel as if I never want to fall asleep again. I dream of being chased by demons, cornered with nowhere to go, bit by snakes, having a child that I NEED to protect from imminent danger (even though I have no children in real life), lover cheating on me with a smile on his face, death to someone close to me....and these are the usual recurring ones. I have been known to sleepwalk in the past, and also scream or yell...many times, I've woken up crying and feeling uncontrollable heartache. I want these visions to go away. I can't take it anymore! Someone PLEASE help me! Desperate and Exhausted

First, I would like to say I would see a specialist for the nightmares, but if you are looking to Lucid Dream then you have come to the right place. I hope someone here can relate to your issue and perhaps offer advice on what they did to remove it from their life, but this may not be the best place to find a solution for nightmares.

My two cents:I would recommend starting with learning to meditate and change your incoming thoughts. This is both important for our waking and dreaming life. Just because you can lucid dream, it may not stop the negative thoughts from coming in to change what you dream. It may even be more exhausting if the entire time you are lucid dreaming you are trying to remove these images from your dream.

You need to reprogram your subconscious which will take time. Do you often have negative thoughts during your waking life? You may not know the answer to this yet, but meditation will help you to start being aware of your thoughts. If you can keep your waking life thoughts to positive ones, including removing the fear of what you will dream, i can guarantee you will see improvement in your dreams.

It sounds like you may be stuck in a loop at this point. Fearing to go to sleep causes your last thoughts to be fearful, thus triggering fearful nightmares. Control the fear, control your thoughts, and then start enjoy sleeping again!

*sorry that this is a long story but this was really important and didnt know how to shorten it*

I did have some experiences like this.It was in my room dark as can be with lightning outside as temporarily moments of light, was where it took place. These demons come out of nothing but darkness and i see them move all around me swiftly, and quietly.immediately i cant move. Then i scream for help and beg them not to get any closer. But just as i blinked the dark figures started turning into people i know. The darkest figure and the closest to me was turned into my grandmother. i cried and told her to get me out of this blanket(which was paralysis). but as she came to lift me the lightning from the window shined bright and showed that it wasnt my grandmother, but this evil soul trying to take mine as if he wanted to eat it. but the lightning died out and it was my grandmother again. the figure kept changing from the darkness to my grandmother. this happened as fast as the lightning lit up my room. I felt powerless because i would want to punch the dark figure but it was also my Grandma. It was the most confusion I've ever had. just the same feeling as you, as if your trapped and nowhere to go but to be tortured by these beings.

the dark figure touches me and wake up. I immediately go and tell my grandmother that day. she says that she would never hurt me, that i should be strong and fight back. she told me if i couldnt do it to protect myself that i should do it to protect people i loved. I really thought it was cheesy and all and not manly as im just a guy. So i dont have that same dream until probably a week later when i just couldnt go to sleep right.

This night i felt that same evil presence and knew i had entered that paralysis or something. It was those dark figures and that one that was the darkest turned into my grandmother. Now this time he turned into my grandmother again but came to me quicker. Im now standing up still not able to move like a statue, tall but static. when i saw my grandmothers face on his body i immediately remembered what she said. to protect others rather yourself. i hear my grandmother yell "help!" i look behind me and there was a source of light behind my whole family, then my friends (cheesy i know). But as i saw them i knew those dark figures were just posers. I called them out saying "you cant trick me anymore". they turned to themselves again as dark figures and rushed at me. Now i am much more angry than scared. This allowed me to move out of paralysis i think. This unbelievable rage(beyond any level anger of when im awake) grew rapidly in me and I breathed in and yelled to the top of my lungs. i looked in front of me and saw i was breathing fire! they all became black ash or smoke. Then i think i had a normal dream after that but thats a different story.

My point is DO NOT be scared. If you cant imagine protecting yourself, protect your family. and if you dont know what else to do i think u should resent them, despise them, and learn to HATE them. One thing Ive learned is that if you fear them they'll take over you. the positive thing about facing them is that I dont fear much anymore and im so relieved now. I wish you luck Darcy

I had horrid nightmares as a child and was scared of sleeping for a long time. I finally broke the pattern by getting as wound up as I could and in the mind of a child that is pure hate, anger, rage and actions. I just lost it in a dream one night. After that I was good and the dreams took on different forms. In saying this I am still breaking boundaries in dreams and some of them are very scary but not with lasting effects

Get mad - get even (just in dreams!) and only at nightmares

Peter

Who are you I asked, the reply "dont be silly, we are your daughers" many years before they were born

I think what this does is set it straight to your mind/body/soul of what you want to be a part of you. Fearing is not a way of saying no. There are probably multiple ways to deny these thoughts from you, and hey if beating up the bully makes the bully go away, go for it!

Thank you guys, but I have an issue with the whole anger thing. It seems that I am unable to control my emotions in my dreams. It's as if I am BEING controlled. I've tried different techniques to make my dreams lucid, but nothing ever works. I feel as if I am destined to be afraid for the rest of my life. I do not wish to give up, but it seems hopeless. I can't even seem to control my thoughts either while I'm asleep. Does anyone have any other ideas that I haven't yet considered?

Before you go to bed spend some time thinking about wanting the dreams and wanting the events to happen. Think that they are like naughty children and really mean no harm just don’t know how to act around you and that you will accept their behaviour and want them to appear. That you will tolerate anything they try to do and not be bothered by it.So the seeds of acceptance and tolerance and go to bed with no fear. Remember they are your dreams and you are doing this to yourself and its daily life in some way that is creating these images.

Peter

Who are you I asked, the reply "dont be silly, we are your daughers" many years before they were born

Been thinking and some simple stuff that will work. Sleep in a differant position in your bed, got north to south or east to west if need be, are you getting these dreams when you wake up cold as in the sheets are off, put more blankets on or a heavy one that wont move. Leave the curtains open for more light or shut them if they are open, put ear plugs in for one night if need be. Change rooms.

Part of the problem may be the trigger that sets the dreams off so remove the trigger in some way but think about sleep hygene as well and see what you come up with.

Peter

Who are you I asked, the reply "dont be silly, we are your daughers" many years before they were born

I don't mean this in any kind of derogatory way at all, but, if you can, you should definitely seek out professional counseling for what you're going through with these nightmares! This isn't something to mess around with if it's affecting your relationships, work, etc.

--And with all due apologies to my worthy constituents at this forum, I would not accept any of the advice that's been given here.

If you're interested in the application of lucid dreaming to nightmares, you might want to check into some of the background literature that's been written on the topic*. If you then decide that lucid dreaming might be something for you--please pursue it under the guidance of a professional counselor!

Unless you're already an adept at lucid dreaming, it's not going to work for you in your current situation. Lucid dreaming takes a lot of time to get under your belt--it takes practice and patience--and I'll be the first one to admit that, after months of working on it, I'm still a rank novice to say the least! I can't "will" myself to have a lucid dream yet, and I've had one or two nightmares in the past couple of months where lucidity did *not* kick in.

Best of luck--and keep us posted on your progress in dealing with this awful situation.

*Stephen LaBerge's book Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming has at least one chapter on the subject. LaBerge is a sleep researcher at Stanford, and not some new-age crank shelling out a lot of cosmic debris--so you'd be in good company reading him. The book is a mass-market paperback, and I've seen it out at Amazon for as little as three or four dollars.